Jawad Group to take over 2 Waitrose stores

Manama, February 5, 2014

Two former Waitrose stores in Bahrain will reopen as Jawad-branded supermarkets by the end of this month, it has been revealed.

The high-end supermarket's former outlets in The Centre in Nuwaidrat and Jawad Dome in Barbar will open their doors again "within two weeks", said a spokeswoman for the Jawad Business Group reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

"For the time being, we are only interested in these two stores at Nuwaidrat and Barbar," she said.

Both The Centre and Jawad Dome are properties already owned by the Jawad Business Group.

The spokeswoman declined to comment on whether former Waitrose employees would be rehired at the new Jawad supermarkets.

The GDN reported last month that Supa Save Bahrain, which ran the country's Waitrose shops under franchise, had gone into liquidation.

The fate of the four other former Waitrose outlets at The Lagoon, Amwaj; Al Hayat Plaza, Segaiya; Nakheel Centre, Saar; and The Walk, Riffa remains unknown.

Despite repeated attempts in the last two weeks to contact the liquidators Salwa Ahmed Al Khalifa Law Firm, no one has been available for comment.

Midway Food chief executive Khalid Al Amin told the GDN last month that his company was looking to take over the store in Saar, adding it was "no secret" that Geant and Jawad were also bidding for the former Waitrose outlets around Bahrain. - TradeArabia News Service